Work has been a challenge for the past couple of weeks thanks to the pathetic power and REALLY spotty Internet connectivity, but I wanted to post some of the services we’ve provided here in Uganda for the past couple of weeks:

The power situation is worse than I’ve ever seen it. The local (only) power company, UMEME is doing what’s called “Load Shedding” which some places call “Rolling Brownouts”. Whatever you call it, it’s really annoying. There’s barely enough time to charge a laptop or a cell phone, then the power’s back off.

I was sitting in the UMEME office, complaining and the attendant walked away to talk to a supervisor. I couldn’t help but take a phew (sic) photos. This was one of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It shows a CISCO IP phone and the new Dell PC used by the agent. Nice gear. Someone’s got money. Ironically, though that doesn’t trickle down to the customer. Some paying customers go three weeks without power. Some like us get it in 8-hour bursts every other day. We have enough hydroelectric power in Uganda thanks to the Nile dam(n)s to supply three East African countries, but we sell it to Kenya. So Kenya has great power and we get the dregs. But I’ve gotten into a rant. The point of the picture, and the thing that grabbed me was the UMEME desk calendar. It show a closeup of a technician’s belt with loads of brand-new, unused tools, and a torso shot of (I guess) a technician. The technician is tangled up in the cable and he looks concerned.. worried.. clueless. Either that or he looks like he’s about to get bitten by the cable. Either way it’s funny, to me anyhow. UMEME. It is supposedly the local word for “Power”. We, however, think it’s an acronym. Ugandans Mostly Expect Missing Power.